Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

The little town of El Valle de Anton where we live is nestled in the valley of Anton (thus the name)…surrounded by mountains, trees, flowers.  Just a sleepy little town - except on weekends when the tourists come to visit.  It is not uncommon to see people walking and talking and laughing in the streets, and bicycles filling the narrow roadways, so that as a driver, you have to weave around them or even slow to a stop. You wouldn't believe the skill that takes! Things are easy going here.  Laid back. People stop and visit…relationships are important…more important than getting any lists completed.  The people are happy, though poor for the most part.  They would never know that, though…they are quite satisfied with how things are…and are probably more wealthy in many ways than most North Americans. They work together to accomplish things for the common good.  The local market place is the place to gather and run into people. Most of the grocery stores look like you've just stepped into the 40's... It is community.  I wonder if Bethlehem was much the same way.  Slow, quiet, peaceful.

Last night we enjoyed our first Christmas program at the little church we have been going to….it was their first as well.  This year, they started out with about 30 people and have probably tripled in size.  50-60 people will be at Friday night Bible Study each week.  Not many people miss out on any part of this excitement that they have for Jesus.

The youth have been working on a drama for months…..the children were learning Christmas carols…the missionaries thought that for this evening, it would be easier on everyone if we all just brought a covered dish.  No - they didn't want to do it that way…we're family….

So, money was collected, as a person could afford to give, and a few of the ladies planned the meal. The night before, after Bible study (late), several of them gathered at one of their little homes to help cook for us all. I was ready to go to bed.  Perhaps that's why they call us older people, "Ancianos". Yep, old people.  Ancient!

We arrived at about 6 p.m….doors were locked.  This IS Latin America.  In actuality, they had been working a good part of the day and went home to clean up. But soon, the people with keys showed and the hustle and bustle began.  Chairs were set up facing their/our first ever Christmas Tree….food was in the kitchen…and the coffee was put on.  It may have ben 6:30 or later before we started, but that was OK…always lots of visiting and hugging going on.  Cleo - the friendly upbeat leader - started us singing a Christmas song - he had worked hard putting a program together and even shortened it a bit…I thought we would still be there until midnight…but here we went.  People still kept coming in for at least another 1/2 hour - that's just the way it is.  Many walk from a long distance away.  I sometimes wonder if they even have clocks, as time is just not ruling their lives.

Next on the agenda were the little ones I'd been working with on 3 songs…..only 5 of the 9 were there yet.  Oh well - it worked….and parents were tickled.

Another song.  

Some games for the kids and adults got everyone involved and cheering the others on.

Another song.

More games.

Then we sang a few more songs while the youth got their drama ready to go.  We all headed outside, to the story of Jesus acted out (covering far more history than just baby Jesus) - with costumes,  a stable, a bouncing sheep and a real live horse.  It was hard to hear and hard to see in the dark…but that was OK too…..everyone was thrilled with it.

And while they were doing that, tables were replacing the chairs that had been set up and dinner was being plated.  Ham, mashed potatoes, rice and beans, grapes, bread - lots of food! It was probably at least 8 p.m. but the atmosphere was festive and there was lots of cheer.

When the plates were cleared away, Santa showed up.  That would be Bob Burr - husband - in his red shorts, lined on the hems with 4" of cotton, a red tropical shirt, beard made from a plastic grocery bag with strips of cotton stapled to it, a festive hat and cool dude sunglasses.  The kids were thrilled.  Not sure ANY of them knew anything about this part of the evening.  

There is a man in the US that has made it his personal project to send a container of shoeboxes filled with gifts down to the Darien in Panama each year.  David and Lisa - our missionaries - were able to get room on the container for some of their sponsoring churches to send gifts as well.  So we had stacks of wrapped shoeboxes to give away!

Santa started with the youngest - each would come and sit on his lap - get a picture taken - and get an age/gender appropriate gift.  They had so much fun - as did Santa and everyone watching.  

Probably 50 or more gifts were given away…and it was the end of a fine festive evening.  Funny thing was, I had no idea what time it was - nor did I care.  It had been a delightful time together, with family, hours of celebrating and remembering the birth of a Savior….

Who may have been born in a little town….

much like this….

Merry Christmas!

Our First Christmas in Panama - You Won't Believe Some of These Traditions!

Perhaps where you live, things are getting ramped up for Christmas…the stores have been decorated and selling decorations, gifts and anything else they can get you to buy.  The places you shop and dine are crazy busy and your calendar has filled up quickly - Oh to have a bit of rest.

Well, here we are in Panama…I did put up a few lights around the railing on our patio the other day - after we participated in the Christmas Parade….but wait - let me back up a bit.  While we are not nearly as busy - not even close - to what we were in Mexico or in the US, Panama seems to pack in a number of celebrations into the month of December and beyond. Let me share some with you.

We arrived at church Sunday morning, as usual, but had a few ornaments to donate to the church Christmas tree.  Others had brought some as well, some home made, some purchased...so we all helped to decorate it….nothing fancy, but….maybe the prettiest I've seen.

We also noticed that the church was set up with tables instead of just chairs, and they were all decorated.  

We quickly  found out that Sunday, December 8th, is celebrated as Mother's Day in Panama.  And we'd no sooner seen the decorations, than a huge pot of chicken and rice came through the front door being carried by a couple of the guys.

That's Michael, Omar and Cleo - I think someone said Omar made the whole thing!

It was a very unorthodox church service for sure, as only the mothers were allowed to sit at the tables - men and children sat on benches behind us. I was more than a little  uncomfortable sitting with all the moms, since I'm not really one myself, but they insisted on including me.  

We had a semi-regular church service, though shortened, and then moved on to "Part 2" of the morning service…a time to honor moms.  Kiernan - my great niece , sand a couple of songs for us with the ukelele she's been playing for only 2 months (!!) as they started to serve the food. Chicken and rice, Ice Cream and Jello (together), a fresh fruit drink, and maybe something else.  A LOT of food!

 The kids took turns walking across the front saying things they were grateful for about their moms.  There were some really cool thanks, some short and sweet ones, and even one "Thank you for food." Another little girl brought her momma with her that morning and had most of us in tears as she recited a poem just for her mom.

 These darling little girls said a poem that Cleo was prompting them with from behind….sneaky...

And then, sweet Alvarada wanted to sing a song for us as well.  A special Sunday, for sure.

But don't think about resting just yet.

Wednesday night was the big parade in town….our church had ben invited to participate, and somehow, before we knew what was happening, our car was going to be in it - we were going to decorate it, and Bob was going to be Santa Claus.  

 Everyone wore red shirts and Santa hats….with exception of the reindeer pulling our red Santa's Sleigh car. Santa was in back with his helpers throwing out candy.

And all the kids wanted pics with this makeshift tropical Santa.

The parade really was great - several really big, lighted floats for such a small town - thousands of people lining the main street.  And the rain managed to hold off for pretty much all of it!

From what I've heard, it's rather important to have a cut tree for Christmas here….and evidently most of the decorating takes place from about the 14th until the 24th.  There are a few houses with lights on them so far, but not many.  I understand they have a Christmas meal like we would (turkey and such), with the addition of  a few local foods, but they don't eat dinner until after midnight on Christmas…and THEN they go visit their friends!?!?!  We're probably going to miss that part.

Just today, as we were driving down the hill to Coronado, we saw several houses with these "dolls" in their front yards along the road.  Lifesize, or larger, painted faces - men, women and children, celebrities, politicians - even American presidents and Martha Stewart!  They are called by some "Judas Dolls", and by others, "Old Year Dolls".  This custom is only common to this area of Panama, as I understand it.  They make these dolls weeks before New Years Eve, even sell them…and then at 1 minute before midnight on New Years Eve, the dolls that have been stuffed with fireworks, are set on fire ….putting away the 'old man' and representing the old year coming to an end with a pretty big bang!

You know how I mentioned that it's good to have a cut tree??? On Three Kings Day - Dia de los tres Reyes (January 6th) - people take that tree and burn it - like a bon-fire…what that has to do with the Three Kings (Wise Men), I don't know…but it's probably another excuse to set off more fireworks….they seem to love to do that!

There were many different traditions in Mexico than we'd known in the USA, and now we are realizing that not all Latin American countries are alike, either.  But one thing that has been refreshing is the abundance of Nativity Scenes in public places - even at government buildings.  Christmas Carols that mention that birth play in grocery stores and shopping centers. We still have the pleasure and freedom to say Merry Christmas - or Feliz Navidad.  While traditions vary the world over, there is still one person that ties it all together….that Christ child, born in a manger in Bethlehem all those years ago.  The One Who gave His life for you and for me.  The greatest gift…ever!

Merry Christmas from this girl in Panama, her husband, 2 dogs, a cat and a sloth that comes to visit frequently.  With so much sadness , chaos and craziness in this world today - I wish you peace - the peace that only HE can give.

A Perfect Description of Rain in Panama

When we found out we were moving to Panama - (well, it happened so quickly that it seemed like someone had just told us we needed to move) - anyway…..a woman in our little town in Mexico, who was an acquaintance, had heard the news, so gave us a call and left a message one busy Saturday afternoon.  When I called her back, she told me she had a book about the Panama Canal that she would like to give us if we would just come and get it.  Since we had quite the interest in the Canal and it's history, we decided to go and get it.

 "The Path Between The Seas"  was like new -- and my husband got into it right away.  He would frequently stop his reading to tell me a tidbit of this or that.  Or he would raise his heads and say, "Did you know _________?"  It was fascinating - and he read it every chance he got - all the way through Central America to Panama, finishing it just before we arrived here in our final destination.

This week, my mom has been visiting, and so she has been reading the book as well.  Funny thing about the moisture in Panama.  Now the pages are swollen and it looks as if it has ben read 100 times!  She has been reading it with as much enjoyment as Bob had.  Mom got to this part in the book about the rain and shared it with me.  It's perfect!  Almost daily we hear the rain making it's way across the valley, dancing on tree leaves and tin roofs until it gets to us and begins pounding on ours.  Read this - it is an incredible description…..

“But no statistic conveyed a true picture of Panama rain.  It had to be seen, to be felt, smelled; it had to be heard to be appreciated.  The effect was much as though the heavens had opened and the air had turned instantly liquid.

 “The skies, when it was not raining, were nearly always filled with tremendous, towering clouds – magnificent clouds, and especially so in the light of early morning.  Then there would be an unmistakable rush of wind in the trees, a noticeable drop in temperature, a quick darkening overhead followed by a sound that someone likened to the ‘trampling of myriad feet’ through leaves.  In villages and towns everyone would instinctively dash for cover.  From the hills at Culebra the jungle could be seen to vanish before onrushing silver cataracts of rain, and howler monkeys would commence their eerie ruckus.

 “If one were to wait out the storm beneath a corrugated iron roof, the sound was like that of a locomotive.  Often these storms became violent thunderstorms, with lightning ‘so stunning,’ wrote one American, ‘it just makes a person feel as though he were drunk.’ And then, while the trees still tossed and roared, the rain would be over – in an instant.  The sun would be out again, fierce as ever.  Everything would glisten with rainwater and the air would be filled with the fecund, greenhouse smell of jungle and mud.”

            “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough, pgs. 132-133.

And every day, as it comes our way, we still look forward to it.  There's really something beautiful about it...

A Day Trip to Cascada Tavida

Before we ever came to Panama, we'd been hearing about some waterfalls near El Valle that are amazing - but had not gotten a chance to go see them….so…since my mom and sis are visiting, my nephew decided to take us to them. Before we ever left the house, we were warned by the kids that the road is treacherous and we might not really like it.  Oh, joy.  We were already committed, so we piled 8 of us into the car and headed off.

Now driving with my nephew is always quite the adventure anyway - he loves all things extreme - and loves to make driving somewhere fit in with that.  Yep - hold on to your hats, folks!

The familiar road heading up out of the valley on the far end of town wasn't so bad….steep, narrow roads at breakneck speeds (he said he was driving slow for us…he probably was!)  We got to the top of the hill and took a hard right - pretty much as steep of an incline down as you'd want to be on.  Soon all  semblance of a paved or smooth road was behind us, as we rocked and rolled up and down steep draws…we were definitely 4-wheeling - though he never had to put the vehicle into 4 wheel drive.  How could that be? Sure was feeling sorry for the kids in the back bouncing around!

The vistas were incredible, some drawing your eyes out of the valley and all the way to the ocean - others of steep mountain roads, green lush valleys, incredible tropical trees and plants. We drove through several rivers, working our way over boulders and probably going deeper into the water than we should have - but made it through each one.

Somewhere about halfway into this journey through nowhere, we happened on a house, giving us a clear idea of how far out in the jungle we were.  Clearly no electricity…the very basics...

 

Then came upon another - this one had a room built of wood boards, another built of concrete block and another built like the previous picture.  And THEN...

...right along side the road, we saw a satellite dish with wire connected to this little hut with a phone in it.  If you look closely, you can see it says Internet Gratis - WiFi  (Free Internet - and clearly, WiFi - but they say it wee-fee).  There were no houses around that could be seen - and the Internet connection didn't work (we tried), but maybe the phone was good.  And who would use it?  I guess that random person walking through the jungle??

This was a fence made by sticking limbs in the ground, and they grow into trees - these are seen all over Panama.  In fact, if you just want to plant something, get a piece off of another plant, and plant it.  

There ya go.

We continued down this poor excuse for a road for what seemed like forever - or at least an hour…., finally turned on to a paved road, and in a short time, were at the waterfalls.  Surprisingly, it was well groomed….with a palapa, bathroom, parking area, flower beds. hammocks….lovely.  

We could immediately see the waterfall as we looked over the edge of the railings of the palapa - and what a waterfall it was!

We began the walk down the well maintained pathway all the way down, as the kids ran ahead of us, anxious to hop in the water.  It was lush, lush green all the way down, and not a difficult walk.  Some stairs cut out of the mountainside, some just pathway, but all of it with sturdy railings made of local bamboo.  

We arrived at a spot close to the waterfall, but up about midway, where they had chairs waiting for us, and where we had an excellent view of the falls and the pool of water below.  Any closer, we would have been soaked.

The falls are approximately 105 feet high in the air and come over the top of the mountain with a mighty force, spraying far into the pool below.  When they were in the pool below the falls, the had to lean in to stay upright.  My great niece came up the stairway - dripping wet - and had yet to go into the pool of water.  Here are 3 great pics I found on another website.

 From the top of the falls

 This must have been a slow water day

Beautiful pool of water below.

The falls roared, nephews and nieces climbed and jumped off of the cliffs, looking like miniature people compared to the height of the falls, a Go-Pro camera was lost….and found….and we enjoyed it immensely.  

We left there and headed back on a paved road (imagine that!) stopping at a Fonda along the way for a late lunch.  For about $1.25, you could get an ample serving of rice and beans and a big bowl of Sancocho, the native Panamanian chicken soup (full of big chunks of vegetables).  In a Fonda, they make a pot of "whatever" in the morning, usually along with rice and beans and sell each serving for a minimal price until it's all gone - then they close up.  We might have cleaned them out for the day.

The road back was pleasantly smoother, with majestic views all the way, and took us by the crosses atop the mountains on the other end of El Valle de Anton, before coming back into the valley.  I would love to see the roads we took on a map, because I lost all sense of any direction, however couldn't even find the roads on Google Maps.  Imagine that. 

All in all - a great day. A fun trip.

Road Trip!

When a person comes to Panama, they are given a visa for 180 days.  Good.  Six months to spend here.  Well, unless you want to drive - then your license is only good for 90 days.  And your car?  30 days.  Genius.

We have been able to renew our car papers every 30 days in Panama City - UNTIL we got to the third month, and they told us we'd have to go to the border.  Since our licenses (American, but still, only 90 days) were expiring, we decided we'd better be taking a road trip.  My niece (Connie) and her son Mason's license were expiring as well, so we all hopped in the car, bringing Joey for entertainment, and headed to the Costa Rican border.  (If you know Joey, you're probably shaking your head right now, because basically, he doesn't talk much…..guess again!) We knew we didn't want to deal with this paperwork at the Paso Canoas exit, where we'd entered (total chaos!), so decided to try the crossing at Rio Sereno.  This crossing is so small that even people in Panama Immigration don't know about it.

We took off early Wednesday morning, as the crossing is about 6 hours away.  We stayed on the Pan American Highway crossing several large and fast running rivers, just past David, where we took a right and headed into the mountains at Concepcion .  The road wound around and around, back and forth, but through increasingly beautiful country.  As we climbed in elevation, we began to see fields and fields of coffee plants.  Row upon row, dark green against the lighter green of the mountains.  Coffee brands were painted in huge letters across the sides of large barns….Chiriqui Flor, Duran, Jansen and a host of other names.  All of it was a bit difficult to see as the clouds set themselves down on the mountains and rain poured as if keeping a secret.

We reached our destination - the border.  Two little official buildings on each side. On the Panama side, they told us we needed to check with Costa Rica to see what to do with the car. We walked over to Costa Rica and were told we couldn't cross with it there. We needed an Aduana, Costa Rican Insurance, etc…etc.. Oh, joy!  The guy was Costa Rica was kind enough to drive over to Panama (100 yards) and came back with good news. Panama would work with us on this. Walked back to the Panama side - they checked the car "out" of Panama (though it never left), and told us we could park it in their fenced yard. We got our passports stamped - crossed in to CR with our luggage in tow, had our passports stamped there, then waited for a bus to take us to the nearest hotel in Costa Rica..

We loaded our bags into what I'm certain was an old school bus repainted, with seats that had little padding and shocks that had seen their better days.  What looked like a pretty decent gravel road quickly turned into a mess of mud, rocks, steep hills, holes and curves and as we bounced along rocking and rolling, on our way to who knew where, we couldn't help but laugh.  The only thing missing were the chickens!   We felt as if we were in an Indiana Jones movie!   

We finally arrived at a little town called San Vito - and fortunately Connie had been there before, so took us right to the Hotel they'd stayed at the last time. 

 Center of town - cool pots!

We got our rooms and head out to eat.  They had also been to this darling little Italian restaurant before, so that's where we went.  As soon as we'd crossed the border, Connie had gotten some Colones - the Costa Rican money.  However, she really had no idea how much she had.  The bills were 5000 and

10, 000.  One person told us the exchange rate was 1000 - 1, another 500 to 1, another 1500 to 1.  We were clueless.  Our trusty little smart phones no longer had data, so we kept guessing.

Pizza was 4000 colones.  We thought that was $4.00.  When all was done (delicious meal, by the way), we laid out 50,000 colones and thought we'd gotten a great meal for a fair price.  Whoops!  Ends up it was close 500 to 1, so  a pizza dinner for 5 cost us close to 100 bucks!  Fortunately, breakfast was free.

After dinner, we went into a small grocery store to check it out.  VERY nice little store!  Made me want to stay there!

We reversed the trip the next morning, except the sun was shining, so we got to take in the sights around us.  This time, we took 2 busses - the first one stopping at the town at the end of the paved road - Sabalito.  These towns were darling, rivers running through them, reminding us of quaint mountain towns in the Sierra Nevadas.  We changed busses and took off on the gravel roads once again, looking forward to the comfort of the car left on the other side of the border.  We arrived, checked the car back "in", got our passports stamped in both countries, loaded up and headed for home.  Can I just say, the Chiricanos (Panama) and the Costa Ricans we encountered we so very friendly, helpful and pleasant to be around ?!?!?!  What a treat!

Since we were in the heart of coffee country, I really wanted to stop at one of the fincas (farms) and check one of them out.  The fields of coffee went as far as we could see on either side of the road - workers carrying plastic laundry type tubs hanging on their shoulders with a strap fashioned of fabric were headed to the fields to pick the coffee. I'm pretty sure I saw Juan Valdez, standing in a field with a deep red shirt and a campesino hat picking beans.  As we neared Volcan Baru, an area noted for coffee (where Starbucks even buys some of it's beans - and dilutes them down with less costly beans), we found the sign for Jansen Coffee Farm.  A 3 km drive took us to a booth on the road, where the guy told us to turn right until we got to the farm.  So we did…right on to a runway!?!  Really. We found our way to the farm, past the drying area, up the hill and to their coffee shop.

 A quaint little shop on top of the hill

 Had to call them to open up, but then got some wonderful coffee and snacks - all of it delicious, while we overlooked a tranquil valley.

Steep stairs climbing up to the coffee shop through a tunnel of trees.

We didn't have time to take one of their many tours, but bought a little coffee to take home and vowed to take longer next time we come back.

Needless to say, our trip home from Rio Sereno took longer than the trip up, as we stopped briefly here and there, but we thoroughly enjoyed it…. with teasers of all we will want to see whenever we get to go back there.  We had a great time together as family, and look forward to returning to the coffee region someday….

….just for fun.

Looking for Square Trees

Today was one of those bright sunny days that haven't been coming around too often. If you were to look at a brochure of El Valle de Anton, you would see that there  are several tourist attractions listed.  Because there are so many, Bob and I decided to do it a little bit at a time.  This morning we didn't have much going on, so decided to take the hike to the Square Trees.  We'd been to the location once, and it began to rain before we could even find out much - then went again, found out where to go, and you guessed it, it started to rain.  So today seemed to be the perfect day.

We headed to the rather historical Hotel Campestre (built in 1939), in a gracious setting tucked far back from the road and fronted by spacious lawns, a huge fountain with Lilly pads, and backed up against the jungle.

 Pretty Lilly Pads

 The former entrance from years ago - the newer part off to the right.

Looking back across the lawns towards town.  Cariguana Mountain in the distance.

We drove up the long circular drive and parked - ready to begin our hike.  It was necessary to walk across some of those spacious lawns, until we reached a little gate that led to a path through the woods. Let's just stop right here.  I just never know whether to call it jungle or forest or woods.  It looks like a forest to me...except with tropical trees and flowers....but we live in the jungle, so....  I also don't know whether to call it a hike or a walk....not like we were really climbing anything, but it WAS in the woods/jungle, so that seems like a hike to me...... bear with me while I struggle with this.

The Gate

Too often, I think we miss our journey because our eyes are on the destination.  THIS journey was lovely.  Winding pathways with tall trees on either side, the sound of a stream rumbling over the rocks, brightly colored flowers tucked here and there, birds singing and squawking in the trees, a giant iridescent butterfly, moss covered boulders, huge stalks of bamboo perhaps 5-6" across, an occasional bench to sit on.  Every turn held some new site to take in....some wonder of creation.

A meandering path through the forest.

Some of the path had mossy rocks...

 Bob's hands are huge...this is some giant bamboo!

 In some places the stream was narrower and quieter, but always quite pretty.

 Seed pods growing on a tree.  I have no clue!

 Mossy rocks in the stream.

 Splashes of color

 Flowers tucked into the jungle growth

The hike was only about 30 minutes, and not difficult at all (I know, you thought I'd surely be rock climbing!) and we arrived at the Square Trees.  I'd read that it wasn't all that great thing to see, but I like to determine those things for myself.  Could have gone to the bank with that one, though. There were a few trees there with oddly squarish trunks, looking a lot like young banyan trees.

They had some benches to sit on - except they were covered with moss (they probably cleaned them yesterday) and...that was about it.  We took a few pics, then headed down anther pathway to get closer to the stream.  There was a swinging bridge that crossed over it - now that was a great site...well worth the hike to get there

.....so peaceful....

As we headed back from our very much enjoyed journey, we noticed several times where there were 1/2 leaf sections moving across the pathway.  Each piece of green was being carried by an ant that was 1/20th the size of the leaf it was carrying.  Hundreds of them .....gave the effect of the ground moving under us.  Where were they going?  Why were they carrying leaves from one side of the jungle to another, where clearly, there were lots of leaves already?  Was there purpose in this?  

I don't know the answers to those questions, but it doesn't matter, really.  Our walk was peaceful, refreshing and one we will definitely do again....maybe with friends or family...maybe with a picnic lunch.....

It was a five star kind of day.